Knowing is half the battle, a battle Knowshon Moreno seems to be winning.

And Moreno, seemingly becoming more comfortable and confident in the Broncos’ offense by the game, is just what the team may need if it is to earn a playoff spot over the last five weeks of the season.

“I wouldn’t say I’m at the same point as I was early in the season, because I am learning and getting better, and at the same time helping my team out,” Moreno said. “But it is still a learning process. I guess I’ve said it before, but it’s true: Each week you learn something new. That’s a lot of weeks so far and a lot of new things.”

The NFL can be unforgiving for the uninitiated, especially high draft picks facing high expectations.

Moreno, who was Josh McDaniels’ first draft pick as the Broncos’ coach, seemed to bear the burden of that while taking his first steps as a professional. He struggled early in the season adapting to the speed of the NFL. He was hesitant at times, as if the traffic in the middle of the field was frustrating him. That shows up in 31 carries of zero or negative yardage.

“We talked all the time at Georgia about ‘get the ball upfield,’ ” Moreno said. “But it’s even more (important) here. A lot more.”

Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy said it’s all part of the learning curve. There’s far more to learn than how to run the ball. If a running back is going to play on third down, he has to be able to pass block. He also has to be able to digest more and more information as the season wears on.

“We throw an awful lot at them,” McCoy said. “At this level you see a lot more defenses. In college, defenses are a little simpler than the NFL. It’s still football, but you get a lot of things thrown at you.”

Moreno has been more decisive with his decisions on where to run in the past few games. The former Georgia star has been far more direct in his approach, getting his shoulders square to the line and making his cuts up the field.

He has rushed for at least 80 yards in each of the past three games and has his two longest runs of the season — a 28-yarder against the Redskins, on his first carry of the game, to go with a 36-yarder against the Chargers.

His 10-carry, 80-yard outing in the loss to the Chargers also included his fourth lost fumble of the year — tied for second among the league’s running backs — and a sideline shove to teammate Brandon Marshall when a heated Marshall got a little too tight in Moreno’s airspace after he fumbled.

“Stuff like that happens all the time,” Moreno said of his exchange with Marshall. “It’s nothing right now. Nobody thinks about it. . . . We’ve got a lot of other things to worry about.”

Moreno leads NFL rookies in carries (161) and yards rushing (688). But a few of his peers, such as the Eagles’ LeSean McCoy and the Cardinals’ Chris “Beanie” Wells, also are getting more work as the season progresses. In the wake of Philadelphia’s Brian Westbrook sustaining a concussion, McCoy now has 528 yards rushing for the season, 175 of those in the past two games.

“I think it’s a sign of the confidence they have in (the team’s rookies), they put faith in us, and we showed up,” McCoy said. “I think any player in this league is a competitor. I think you have that attitude to approach anything in this league. You’ve got to play as a competitor.”

Moreno knows the deal too. The Broncos’ offense operates more smoothly, scores more points and controls tempo when the team has a productive running game.

He wants to be part of that and believes he is ready to help the Broncos’ playoff push.

“When you get a chance, you want to get in there and make a play,” Moreno said. “If, in the end, they say I could be one of the key guys, that would be good to hear from your teammates, but a lot of guys would be that. You always want to be one of those guys.”

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